She sat looking at the screen, hers a little different than would be seen by the members, with a row of clocks clicking over in sync, one being the local time, one on GMT, and the remaining four with USA time zones. The larger local clock also had seconds, they had all done a last minute check with Dmitri a while ago, and soon it would go live for the first time.

Click, click, click, Zero. Six AM local time, Dmitri would start, preventing incoming messages until they were ready to go.

"Hello and welcome, I am the moderator of the 'Talk to the Models Forum' and would direct your attention to the rules and guidelines of how to participate in order to have an orderly, polite and enjoyable experience for all involved. The models who have been studying hard so they could take part are eager to talk with you, but also nervous about any mistakes they may make using their new-found skills. Please show patience and understanding with regard to any slip-ups, as we hope this will provide the girls with an opportunity to hone their language abilities."

"Many of our models wished to take part, and some are more proficient than others, as it is not always easy to find English teachers. Over time more of our girls hope to join in if they can learn enough to understand the dialogue in the Forum. I will let today's three young ladies introduce themselves, then the Forum will be thrown open to our Platinum members to participate, while our Gold-plus members will be able to observe the threads of the discussions taking place. Now I will hand over to the girls!"

Anna felt Marta's reassuring hand on her back as she started to type.

"Hello everyone, my name is Natasha, I had my eleventh birthday this week. I have done several photo sets, and two videos so far. One video was when I made cup cakes for some of my friends who are also models, who were coming for a sleepover. The other video was when my older friend Nadia helped me practice to join the cheerleader squad."

"You can read my bio and that of my friends by following the links from the meet the models page. I'm looking forward to all the things we can talk about, but now I will pass you on to Laura."

'Laura' did her intro, talking about her two photo sets, the first being with Natasha and repeating some of the blurb from her made-up bio, before handing off to Pasha a girl of fifteen, with four years experience. Her sentences were shorter with some grammatical errors, but not so bad it was hard to read. When she had finished Dmitri came back in his role as moderator to throw the Forum open.

Bogman57 : "Hi girls, been looking forwards to this, when are each of you releasing new photo sets or videos?"

Before anyone could touch a keyboard the string of comments or questions streamed down the page as fast as each member could press the enter key. Dmitri at the office must have had some system to halt the incoming flood, then came online to bring a sense of order to proceedings, saying if the members wanted any answers they would need to give the girls a chance to reply.

Slowly the chaos resolved into threads of understanding, with Dmitri butting in now and again with a warning or comment of his own. It was hoped that after the first week the need for a moderator could be done away with, and the girls would run the show themselves, but in the mean time some of the staff who had been 'practice members' would share between them the post of moderator.

At one point the discussion ranged on the topic of the girls learning English, and they came back with comments on how it would enhance future job prospects, and possibly lead to opportunities to travel when they were older, leading to a rash of comments of how welcome many of the members would make them.

When one person asked if Natasha was really a cheerleader, she came back with a witty answer asking if he was really a member, or someone looking to get banned. On the most part after a few initial warnings about what it was permissible to talk about, things settled down, with members flaming others who pushed the envelope.

Laura gave a few members a hard time for using longer or more difficult words, that some other girls new to the language would struggle with, explaining they could either talk to the girls, or sit around waiting while the girls looked up all the words they didn't understand.

Texas-Bob said as it was OK to talk of hobbies, could Natasha tell them about her horse riding. The sisters thought that amusing as it now really was a hobby they both enjoyed, and from her replies, the members could see it was a genuine interest.

Dmitri came on line again thanking everyone for taking part, then listing the names of the models who would be taking part at the same time the next day. The plan was for all the threads to be retained for four or five weeks, so members taking a vacation could come back and catch up with threads they had missed, but in the mean time it would be a learning resource for the girls yet to join in.

The girls taking part could communicate among themselves via their own private in house channel - the models private chat zone, built like the Forum but only for their access, to talk about the new TTMF (Talk to The Models Forum). The plan was you could leave a message at any time, but there would be a main get together between four and five after school each day, just prior to the 'After school worldwide chat' on the main Forum, and a free for all on the weekends.

At school several of the studio girls there made allusions to how Anna's day had started, in a way frustrated they couldn't ask outright for fear of someone overhearing, then asking questions they couldn't answer. Anna's upbeat mood, and promise to chat later between four and five, in a way that you could almost see the quotation marks, let them know she would show up on the girls only chat zone. Eve had been practising hard, and was set up at home with a secure laptop, but she was still struggling with English grammar, though now with additional help from Irisha was hoping to join the Forum early in the new year.

General opinion was there would be some crossover between the after school and evening sessions but they were likely to be a different audience from those participants who took part in the morning sessions. The Platinum members would have to read through those live sessions they missed in the same way as the Gold-plus members who were just passive observers.

That afternoon many girls were logging on just as soon as they got home, looking through the threads of the TTMF while they waited to chat with the three girls who had done that first breakfast shift. The girls most eager to talk with 'Natasha, Laura and Pasha', were the six girls running the next two shifts, the girls doing the next breakfast show would have more examples to learn from.

During the final stages of organising the TTMF there had been a lot of research regarding the price structure, and it had been found far more members would want to take part than was practical. The idea of having two levels had solved the problem, for a majority were content to be lurkers, just observing the interaction, which just left the pricing model for the top band of Platinum members. Rather than cap the number of members who could take part they just set the bar very high, by charging an enormous sum, but also included a vast download allowance in the package.

One topic that came up among the girls in their own private chat zone was that the individuals they were talking with, were even more wealthy than all other people with the lower levels of membership. These men would be ranked in the elite of their own society, but with this naughty secret, as they knew their target audience lived in countries that repressed social nudity, and especially the viewing of girls in their age range.

Marta who had been following the drift of conversation the girls were having just had a new idea, if she collected any facts or clues about these men, would it be possible for Karl or Boris to work out who they were. One day in the future it might prove useful to have foreign friends in high places, for those girls that wished to travel.

In with all the useful tips from the women who were her older mentors, Marta was told that the Latin saying "In vino veritas", the more prosaic translation being that people were likely to tell the truth when drunk, also applied to men talking to a pretty woman. They were liable to let things slip, that is when they weren't outright lying, or stretching the truth about themselves. A brief call to Dmitri confirmed her thoughts that archiving the entire history of this new Forum would cause no problems, and require the minimum of space.

The following day on the girls chat zone, the consensus was that the members joining in on each new session had paged back like the girls, to view the scope and tone of prior threads in order to see what was acceptable, and which topics they wanted to cover with the girls who were currently taking part. Back at the studio it was soon hailed a major success for the high revenue generated from a scheme that used relatively little of the girls time, and only a minimal amount of bandwidth.

Another truth that soon became evident was Svetlana's comment on how the members would find the girls errors or bloopers more endearing than annoying.

From this observation it became clear that girls who had been waiting in the wings could join in sooner, rather than wait until they had attained a higher standard of competence in their language skills. This proved a popular move as the members liked to help these new girls along.

On Friday Karl took Marta to a matinee showing of a new release at the cinema, picking her up from home as he couldn't leave work early enough to meet straight from school, but it did give Marta time to change, and take a little more time over her make-up. Both teens knew how difficult and embarrassing making out had been the last time they had been to the pictures, so they held hands, kissed a little and watched the film.

Karl had discovered Marta's last gift after he had left her house on Tuesday, walking past the park he had thrust his hands into his coat pockets due to the chill, only to find another of her sealed plastic bags. He needed to adjust himself, as junior had perked up when he found the panties Marta had worn all day at school. He had smiled, pondering if two pairs of panties rated as a collection, or if he needed more, stained samples redolent with her musky odour. Leaving him such personal intimate gifts, kept her on his mind, especially at night as he breathed in her feminine essence, and these one's were fresh.

During a simple meal after the film they talked of how they might get to spend more time together alone, something they both wanted, but were aware of the practical limitations, and knew not to push their luck by being foolish, and risking the freedoms they had been granted. Though junior would disagree, Karl also liked going out with Marta, doing teenage 'couple' things together, if only to prove nerds were real people too, and he loved the reaction from her friends when he turned up at the school gate.

On the way to Marta's house Karl joked his only consolation that evening would be going home to his prized collection of Marta's underwear, she got him back stating she was going to be wearing thick woollen long-Johns from now until spring time came around. Starting with a trip to the lingerie store that she had a gift voucher for, positive they had the thickest warmest passion killers. Being in a thick coat made it difficult for him to tickle her.

The weekend started with Ella and Igor taking the boys to the local park so they could ride round the large open space on their newly modified bicycles, demonstrating they were able to ride safely without their training wheels. The girls had booked an early cab taking them out to the stables that day, so they could have a full morning riding, then get home to change, and still spend some time at the studio.

Once changed into their new apparel, they walked around the stable blocks greeting the large gentle animals, whose breath could be seen in the cold morning air. Talking with the stable girls who cared for the horses, they found the pay was low, but these girls got to take out the privately owned horses that were stabled there on exercise rides, on the days the owners were unable to visit. They needed to get out most days to stay fit and healthy.

They had a wonderful morning riding in an open paddock, and around the indoor arena, learning more about the finer control of the horses, and trying to decide which mounts they would prefer to ride on a regular basis. On the cab ride home Anna admitted asking about the cost of buying and stabling a horse, something that until now had been beyond her imagination, the biggest pet any of their previous classmates had owned was a goldfish.

Amazingly it wasn't such an outrageous idea, as her new TTMF earnings alone would cover the running costs with ease, and payments for the sessions were to be reviewed on a regular basis to ensure the girls got a fair crack of the whip. A reasonable number had signed up from day one, and word was spreading on the regular members forum with feedback from Gold-plus members as to how much they enjoyed viewing the new Forum.

Now as more and more girls were getting connected via the studio network, Marta had encouraged those girls they had found on their 'skills sweep' that had an interest in drama or writing, to form a literary circle. Promoting ideas for and writing scripts for the new style of video the studio was now producing. Once bonus payments started showing up on their weekly statements the girls became very keen, collaborating in pairs or groups to polish up their various ideas, and sharing the bounty.

Because of the way the studio was run, people got paid in relation to the contribution they made, and as many of the new ideas originating from the sisters were generating revenue, they got a percentage based on their input. Any English videos, even those that Marta didn't write or direct earned them a tiny royalty, for initially promoting this line of product in the first place, and the studio was now very busy.

Marta wanted to work on her two Christmas themed sketches, and had spoken to Irisha to see if she wanted to partner Anna, and help polish the script with her extensive knowledge of the language. Several other Christmas themed video and photo sets were in hand at the studio, with girls poring in from the provinces to earn some money from the seasonal peak in sales, as members treated themselves to additional downloads.

Anna had wanted to see several people at the studio that afternoon, and one of the two modelling coaches had asked her to sit in on a meeting with a couple of new girls who had recently signed up. Her FAQ for new models had impressed the woman, and she thought a word from the horses mouth so to speak would give the new girls a boost of confidence.

A little later at the office she shared with her sister, she found Marta and Irisha engrossed in work on scripts, so went and sat with Alina to chat for a while, then plugged into a spare port at her desk to catch up with the private models chat zone. All sorts of subjects were covered, and currently there was a discussion on how one city model had used her earnings to invest in property to improve her savings.

It wasn't a secret among her modelling friends at school about the house project, and it had raised some interest, but none of them knew how to go about making such a move. Anna joined in stating her dad had just done-up a big house, and it had made a good profit but the problem had been getting the right building, and having enough money to start the project. It was mainly the brighter forward thinking girls who were learning language skills, and joining the TTMF, and their private chat zone, that had been a spin off from that idea.

Soon it was suggested if a few of them clubbed together on one scheme, they wouldn't even need to get a bank loan, just share the profit among themselves. These girls were all to well aware of how short their careers could be, and how badly their families could suffer when those earnings dried up. Within a very short time the idea of an investment club had come into being, they reasoned the more girls involved the lower the risk, as they would not have to place their whole savings on the line as Anna had done.

Returning to her own office they looked through the material for the two linked scripts, with the two players trying out a reading. With all three making an input the work was soon complete, with some really good lines for the festive offerings. Anna said ideally they should do both together on the one day, rather than try to recreate the same scene twice. They wouldn't be ready with all the props till the following weekend, but they could get the go ahead, and start preparing for the double shoot straight away.

It was a given that Ivan just rolled over like a teddy bear, next they found out that Oksana was in the complex that day, but she took some finding as she was hiding in the canteen to catch up on some reading between shoots. Next Saturday she was fully booked but if they wanted Sunday she could bump the job booked that day to another date, next they caught up with Andreas the props man and Sergio the camp set dresser, having already told Irisha what absolute fun the man was to work with.

They wanted to continue with the fiction of using the company apartment they had used before in the cheerleader shoot as being Natasha's home, therefore they would reset all the previous set dressing with the addition of a seasonal theme. Sergio explained for continuity between the two shoots back to back, in order to show time passing, he had a few tricks up his sleeve, and he would start now preparing for the following weekend.

As these new style videos had more of a sense of realism than any of the fantasy studio productions, they considered the clothes for the shoot should be normal shop bought items rather than the exotic creations from the studio workshops. While awaiting the cab they had called to take them to the area of the city they wanted to shop, they discussed what the two girls should wear. Though Anna had turned eleven, she would dress down in a way to suggest little girl youth and innocence, to contrast with Irisha's more budding sexuality.

The three girls hit the shops with relish and a sense of purpose, first finding Anna some underwear for the shoot. White cotton briefs with a single teddy bear above the crotch, with a matching little girl pre-bra type of halter top, to emphasize the small swellings of Anna's chest. Irisha settled on a frilly lace panel, tie sided pair of panties, not quite a thong as there was a narrow strip of fabric at the back, this was also in white, though it in no way brought to mind the terms innocent or virginal. The matching bra caught Marta's attention as it had a clasp at the front, saying she felt left out, she also brought two similar sets for herself, one in white and the other in black.

Andreas and Sergio between them would take care of the tree and decorations, having been given an outline of the scenes to be filmed, but the girls couldn't resist buying some additional items themselves. Marta pointed out after the shoot they could get some helpers to carry the tree to Irisha's apartment that was in the next-door building, so it wouldn't go to waste, and she and her mum could enjoy it though it would be early for the festive season.

Despite being the first weekend of December it was hardly reflected in the shops, any change in window dressing was minimal and cheap, apart from a few of the high end stores, and only one or two of them would have an in store Ded-Moroz, or Santa Claus as he was called in the west. Rather than any vast commercial change, it was the colder weather, and the charitable organisations on the street trying to garner funds for the destitute and homeless over the winter that marked the coming of the New Year and Christmas.

********

For historic reasons the old Julian calendar held sway due to the influence of the Orthodox Church in eastern Europe which was thirteen days behind the Gregorian calendar, used in Europe and North America, and therefore the Ukrainians celebrated Christmas on the 7th of January, thirteen days later than the rest of the Catholic world. Though they used the same calender as everyone else, many holidays and feast days still remained out of kilter due to this tradition.

New Year's Day was the main holiday of the year for most Ukrainians, if they could, they would decorate the New Year Tree, cook festive dinners, buy presents, and go to New Year's parties, that would be held not only at the end of December, but also in the first two weeks of January. This bright holiday, loved by people of all ages, but especially by the children, in that Ded-Moroz, or Santa Claus, came on New Years Eve to put gifts under the tree, if of course they haven't been naughty in the old year.

Christmas wasn't openly celebrated under the Soviets during the greater part of the 20th century and was only now starting to be resurrected. On 6th of January, Christmas Eve, many families gather for Sviata Vecheria (Holy Supper). The traditional meals included are kutia (home-made bread with honey and red poppies), borsch (beet soup), vushka (dumplings filled with mushrooms and onions), a variety of fish, vareniki (dumplings filled with cabbage, potatoes, or prunes), and holubtsi (stuffed cabbage). Gradually older customs like Kolyadki (masked children going door-to-door to receive candy in exchange for traditional songs and jokes) was starting to be revived.

The Ukrainians who are fond of celebrating holidays, strictly observe the traditions of Orthodox and Soviet holidays, and readily accepted Western holidays like St. Valentines Day, Halloween, St. Patrick's Day and so on. When a holiday falls on a non-work day, a Saturday or Sunday, the nearest Friday or Monday is a day-off.

********

Due to these various anomalies it looked to them as if other cultures were celebrating on the wrong dates, though with Marta's interest in history, she explained to the others how this had come about, and how really they were now the odd ones out, and maybe over time they might in the future change. Anna thought it a better idea to celebrate Christmas on both dates, and New year, and have presents on all three dates, though Marta said not to suggest that idea to their brothers.

They completed their shopping for the day, then called the cab company for a car to pick them up, dropping off Irisha on their way home. It had been a long and busy day, and both sisters were ready for an early night.

As Marta prepared for bed she agonised over the gift she had brought for Karl's upcoming birthday next Friday, it was rare for men other than criminals or the very wealthy to wear much in the way of jewellery, other than watches or sometimes wedding rings. She had considered clothing, but was doubtful what to get him, so when they got to a bicycle shop she had gone in on a whim, hoping something might catch her eye.

Karl liked to get out on his bike, often cycling to work if the weather wasn't too bad, and in the summer he had told her he went off into the local countryside. Once the proprietor knew she was looking for a gift somewhat beyond a new bell or cycle pump, he showed her a range of trip computers. She opted for the deluxe model, with all the functions, and a memory that you could download onto your PC.

Later when Irisha was out of earshot Anna had suggested she get Karl something really important like a tongue grooming kit! Marta went bright red and couldn't come back with an answer to her sisters cheeky comment, but thought to herself his tongue was perfect as it was, even if any such product existed.

Marta drifted off to sleep that night with pleasant thoughts of her boyfriend, though her slumber would have been less restful had she known of her mum's phone call earlier that afternoon. Ella knew of Karl's birthday the following week, so had phoned Elena to invite them over for a meal on either the Friday or Saturday evening, for as yet their only contact had been the occasional brief phone conversation. Knowing that his home was relatively small by comparison, it would be simpler to invite Karl's family to their house for a get together and celebration.

Though anxious to meet the family of her son's girlfriend, she didn't like to impose, saying to Ella it didn't seem right that all the work should fall to her, in order to host a party for her daughter's boyfriend. That issue was resolved by Elena taking up the offer to spend the whole day, and help Ella prepare the celebratory meal, with the added benefit they could get to know one another, with the kids in question out of the way.

There followed some awkward moments as Ella was unaware if Elena knew the extent of their children's intimate relationship, not wanting to give the impression that either her own daughter was of easy virtue, or imply that Elena's son was a despoiler of young girls. Elena guessing the difficulty that lay behind the now stilted dialogue, and broke in to say she was aware of the nature of the relationship between their offspring, and then spoke of her own chat with Karl to ensure he had not put any undue pressure on Marta.

Now the air had been cleared the women both felt easier about the subject, Elena saying that Ella's modern stance in providing a safe outlet for their kids to explore their growing relationship had been a brave and bold move that had stunned her son. They had been talking for nearly an hour when Ella saw the clock stating it was time for her to think about preparing supper for her hungry hoard, and they should talk again later in the week.

Karl was sitting at his desk, books open, when he heard a tapping on his door, in a panic he had a sudden feeling of deja-vu, he invited her in, knowing it was his mum, she sat on his bed while he tried to figure out if he was in trouble. Instead it was news that they had been invited round to have a birthday supper next Saturday with Marta's family.

He felt a mixture of relief and trepidation at the news, that both sets of parents would be staring down their necks all evening, still they all had to meet up sooner or later, it was not something they could put off indefinitely. At least this wasn't as embarrassing as the last time his mum had sat in that same place.

"Ella and I had a nice long chat this afternoon." Shit he thought, is it about to go down hill?

"We got on very well, such a practical level headed woman, I'm sure we're going to be great friends." As she got up to leave she turned with one final comment.

"It will be OK if you want to invite Marta round here - even when your father and I are out."

Was he in a parallel universe, or had his mum just been replaced by the pod people?

---

To be continued in Chapter 44.

Any comments you have would be welcome regarding any aspects of the story. Remember you only get better stories by helping novice authors like myself with feedback.